Forum:Math and modifiers questions
This is my first post here, so pardon if I've missed something about how the site functions and the protocols of starting a forum thread of whatever. (I can see this forum is more like a wiki page than a forum.) Something I have been wondering about as I've started to play this game is how a lot of the modifiers work. From reading the builds on the site, I get the impression that at least some of the build authors don't know the answers to some of these either since I see contradictions. Class Mods 1. If I get a class mod that adds +2 to ability X, and I have zero points into that ability, do I have a rating of 0 or 2? If this were Diablo 2, the bonus would be null and void until at least one point was in the skill. Some builds seem to think you need that one point, and others indicate not to. 2. If I get a class mod that adds +2 to ability X, and I have five points in that ability, do I have a rating of 5 or 7? In other words, if the ability adds, say, +3% damage, do I get a total of +15% or +21%? Elemental Damage 3. I'm pretty sure I understand this one, but I'm just double-checking. If I have a weapon with a damage of 50, and does x3 elemental, then it effectively deals 200 points of damage -- 50 base and three times that in the element? (Sans any other modifiers, of course.) 4. The "frequency" of the elemental attack triggering just refers to the chance of the special property like igniting flesh or electrocuting, right? It doesn't influence the standard damage? 5. Are all elements' damage applied up front? Corrosive, for example, applies a DoT after the fact. Is that part of the original damage, or is that gravy? Specific Talents 6. I primarily play a siren. One of the siren abilities, Radiance, "deals shock damage to nearby enemies while Phasewalking. Damage is based on your Level and the skill's Level." However, each level just adds +1 shock damage. I know I'm doing more than a single point of shock damage, so can I assume this is +1 to some multiplier? If so, what is it a multiple of? My melee damage? My character level? 7. My friend is playing Brick and looking at the Unbreakable talent. If it adds +15% per second after your shield breaks...wouldn't that effectively mean that your shield never stops regenerating? You take damage, shield breaks, you get back 15%. Therefore, your shield is unbroken. So when you take another 15% in damage, your shield breaks, and you get back 15% again. Or is there some kind of cooldown on its reactivation? (Or other stipulation?) 8. Why isn't there a wiki page on any of the math behind the game? Or is there and I missed it somewhere? I've noticed there is an article on elemental damage, at least, but it didn't answer my questions. I suppose there might just be a place I missed, but there's certainly no indication of that. For a game that is reasonably transparent with numbers, I'm surprised I can't find answers to the remainder of the mathcraft. ---- 1. Zero. All class mod skill buffs require at least one point to activate. 2. Seven. There is no limit to how high the skill buffs can stack. 3. Yes. 4. Yes. 5. DoT activation is random. Unless you have legendary/rare/flavortext weapons like the Hellfire or the Defiler. Note: not all legendary weapons have 100% DoT to their elements, e.g. the Plague doesn't always apply DoT. 6. Character level and skill level. Exact calculation eludes me, I'm not a Siren person. 7. Did I also mention, I'm not a Brick person. 8. The math is sadly quite low-profile on this wiki, but any mass data collection can usually be found on talk pages or the forums. --Nagamarky 19:09, January 6, 2010 (UTC) ---- Thanks a lot! At least I can feel better about what I'm looking for in weapons and builds...and I'll check out the talk pages more. Surprised the wiki doesn't highlight that side of the game a little more, though. Azuarc 00:42, January 7, 2010 (UTC) ---- According to the wiki page on unbreakable, it does not reactivate until your shield has been fully recharged. Freed23 00:51, January 7, 2010 (UTC) ---- As a side question to number 3. How does this work with weapons that are (say) 100 x2 damage and x4 elemental? Is the elemental damage 4 x 100 = 400? or is it 4 x 2 x 100 = 800? Thanks in advance, Machalel, 00:52, January 7, 2010 (UTC) ---- Elements are more complicated than stated here. For some guns damage is on the order of the multiplier, but not quite, and that varies by element. Snipers/revolvers do effects of different strengths UP TO the elemental multiplier. Rocket launchers do x4 effects all the time. All the other guns basically only do a x2 effect no matter what they say. Multiple projectile weapons are elemental by blast, all or nothing. For more detail check out this thread on the GB forums. DoTs are separate new damage from the up front damage. Radiance is scaled by level... of the enemy. It does damage similarly to the DoT effect from shock weapons, and therefore it depends on the max HP of the target! So it could be good against badasses and bosses. It works on things that can't normally get DoTs. In that thread instant karma reported Radiance doing 3000 damage per blast to the Rakk Hive. --Raisins 02:07, January 7, 2010 (UTC)